OPAL is a 20 MWth multi-purpose open-pool type Research Reactor located at Lucas Heights, Australia. It was designed, built and commissioned by INVAP between 2000 and 2006 and it has been operated by the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO) showing a very good overall performance. | A multi-physics analysis for the actuation of the SSS in Opal reactor EPJ Nuclear Sci. Technol. 4 8 2018 Nuclear Sciences D. Ferraro et al. published by EDP Sciences 2018 amp Technologies https epjn 2018003 Available online at https REGULAR ARTICLE A multi-physics analysis for the actuation of the SSS in Opal reactor Diego Ferraro1 Patricio Alberto2 Eduardo Villarino2 and Alicia Doval2 1 Nuclear Engineering Department INVAP . Esmeralda . C1035ABH Buenos Aires Argentina 2 Nuclear Engineering Department INVAP . Av. Cmte Luis Piedrabuena4950 R8403CPV . de Bariloche Rio Negro Argentina Received 13 June 2017 Received in final form 16 December 2017 Accepted 30 January 2018 Abstract. OPAL is a 20 MWth multi-purpose open-pool type Research Reactor located at Lucas Heights Australia. It was designed built and commissioned by INVAP between 2000 and 2006 and it has been operated by the Australia Nuclear Science and Technology Organization ANSTO showing a very good overall performance. On November 2016 OPAL reached 10 years of continuous operation becoming one of the most reliable and available in its kind worldwide with an unbeaten record of being fully operational 307 days a year. One of the enhanced safety features present in this state-of-art reactor is the availability of an independent diverse and redundant Second Shutdown System SSS which consists in the drainage of the heavy water reflector contained in the Reflector Vessel. As far as high quality experimental data is available from reactor commissioning and operation stages and even from early component design validation stages several models both regarding neutronic and thermo-hydraulic approaches have been developed during recent years using advanced calculations tools and the novel capabilities to couple them. These advanced models were developed in order to assess the capability of such codes to simulate and predict complex behaviours and develop highly detail .
